Marco Rubio earned partial approbation from His Politicomedic Holiness Jon Stewart Tuesday night in a tiresome interview during which the entertainer-not-journalist distorted Rubio’s policy positions for an audience of indoctrinated people who could not possibly care less about what the Florida senator has to say.
Rubio, who ably demonstrated his media savvy in the interview’s initially lighthearted moments, discussed an anti-poverty proposal that would transform the earned income tax credit from a lump-sum refund into a “wage enhancement” that workers would see in their paychecks. The idea is to help low-wage earners supplement their income on a regular basis, making unemployment insurance a less attractive option — and keeping the cost burden off of employers in the way that, say, a minimum wage hike would not.
Stewart likes this idea. But he really, really likes the minimum wage idea, too.
“So — and you also then would like to raise the minimum wage, I would imagine,” Stewart chimed in as Rubio discussed his EITC position and the problem of stagnant wages.
“Woot woot!” a couple of audience members cheered.
“Well, this is better than raising the minimum wage, the wage enhancement,” Rubio said.
Stewart then took over.
“Now that we’ve drawn an agreement here, let’s do this earned income tax credit thing and raise the minimum wage. Suddenly, you have an enormous group of people that raise themselves out of poverty, stimulate the economy — this, I think, is something people can agree on.”
Woot woot! Clap-clap-clap-clap-clap. Never mind that the EITC proposal is essentially an alternative to a minimum wage measure.
Rubio began to speak amid the ovation, citing the prevalent minimum wage proposal of $10.10 an hour before Stewart extended his hand and exclaimed, “Still not enough!” It’s not clear if he was referring to the $10.10 figure or the joint Rubio-Stewart plan, but “woot woot!” if you’d be surprised that it’s the former.
The discussion then broadened to include the problems that Rubio would face in convincing his caucus, especially the tea party, to embrace a government solution to an economic issue.
“What’s the earned income tax credit — if you super-charge that, that costs money, yeah?” Stewart asked.
“The earned income tax credit is a targeted program that already exists,” the senator responded.
“No, I’m saying if you expand it,” Stewart pressed on.
“It’s not necessarily just an expansion — we’re transforming it into a program that will be delivered through the paycheck,” Rubio said.
“Aw, look at you,” Stewart interjected sarcastically. “Look at you trapped between two worlds.”
This comment makes absolutely no sense.
“What two worlds? It’s the same world!” Rubio said.
“The world of being active in government and protecting …” Stewart began, before chastising tea partiers for wanting government services but not wanting to pay for them.
The interview wrapped shortly thereafter.
The Daily Show
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